S22 Surf Ballast

[JIMBO]

Just had my first weekend out on my new S22 and it was amazing. My inlaws have a new house i helped build right on lake Cowichan on Vancouver island BC the lake is 525 feet deep in parts, 19 miles long and 2.5 miles wide at its widest point and super crystal clear and clean. best of all its only about 1.25 hours from my house!

I bought some used Sumo Sacks and a pump for $300

1x 900 lb
1x 750 lb
1x 450 lb
2x 350 lb

I called around town and found a surf shop that got a wakesurf board about a year ago with a shipment of surfboards and had no idea what it was. its 46" long with 3 fins and the whole top has rubber grip pad on it. they sold it to me for half price ($260) to get rid of it.

I read on here 700 front floor 400 left rear locker and 400 trunk left to surf

DAY 1 setup   750 bag up front on the floor almost full
                    900 bag in left rear locker a little over 3/4
                    3 people in boat

- not amazing but my buddy on a small 6.5' surfboard could ride it for a minute or so no rope

DAY 2 setup   350 bag on seat in bow
                    750 bag up front on the floor almost full
                    900 bag in left rear locker a little over 3/4
                    450 bag in trunk left side 3/4 full
                    4 people in boat

- much better but the swim platform wrecks the wave bad

im thinking serious about plumbing in a system with a 1inch through hull and putting a v bag or 2 bags under the front seats and a little one under the bow filler and maybe lead so i can keep everything out of sight and plumb in the 900 and 450 in the locker and trunk.

im also reading lots and very interested in making my own wedge and surf gates both mounted to a large aluminum plate on the back of the boat. i will scribe the back of the boat onto the plate, cut holes for exhaust and drain plug etc, weld on mounts for the gates and wedge and hydraulic rams, then permanently mount the plate. the rams will be controlled up front by the driver. The system could start out with no hydraulics and be manual at first to cut the project in half.

the swim platform needs to be fixed before anything so thats first. i was thinking about removing the screws and swapping the fibreglass for a lower profile 1" plywood for a quick prototype that can also have wood pieces attached for test gates.

anyone have any ideas ?

[breakawaydaze]

Too bad, sounds like a perfect oppurtunity for psyclone and his advice....

[brad]

Some pretty good threads on here for weighing your boat, modifications to your swim deck....

http://www.epicmarine.com/forum4/index.php?topic=1725.0

My typical setup is 400 fat sack in the bow walkway or bow seat; 750 in the vdrive locker; 350 internal ballast to list the boat to one side and out the water up the rub rail in the back corner.

More weight in the back corner provides a tall wave with more push; more weight in the mid-to-forward part of your boat will lengthen the wave and reduce the push.

Good luck in your fine tuning.

[toyboat]

Jimbo, I so wish I could be there to help with the surf upgrade. I miss the boat ! If you could figure out how to get back in the boat, you could try without the platform. Just make sure to turn outside the boat when you get near as you won't have the deck to check your distance. I think there must be a way to hinge the swim deck with gas rams so that you can pull it up to surf and down to enter the boat. Check out Victoria wakesurf boards, great boards good prices. I got to surf with Bri Chmel and she brought a few boards to try. I like the Agent board large size.

[JIMBO]

good advice Tim, i unscrewed the swim platform from the mounts and we went out with just the drivers side mount on . just enough of a step to get back in the boat and the wake was WAY better . Still not perfect but i have more plans with a fixed manual surf gate . ill make it out of wood so its quick and easy to change like some guys are doing on other sites. in the winter ill weld up a whole system with a wedge and lenco actuators with custom controls.

any ideas how to mount the drivers side fixed surf gate anyone ? im not sure if the swim platform brackets are strong enough even  if i do tie into both.

[JIMBO]

WOW !

went wake surfing today for my third attempt 3 ppl in boat (2 small girls 1 dude) and ran my regular 750 up front on the floor and a 900 left rear right through to the trunk with the divider out but added a 450 on the left side floor rear and it made a HUGE difference ! first time up i threw the rope and rode it for about 2 minutes and repeated that 3 times. my surfing skill is now holding me back far more then my wake size. at least 2 feet high and with the swim grid off it is very clean and easy to ride so were super happy.

[JIMBO]

found this and will be doing the same on my S22 in the off season as im already tired of filling and draining sacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUwoFd4wOTs

[JIMBO]

yesterday morning on lake cowichan 2 people in the boat 750 front 450 mid left 350 on mid seat and a 900 left of engine through to trunk as full as i could get it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vgtL6J9boA

[ootyboy]

Jimbo -- that is an awesome wake. I cannot tell from the video if you have the swim platform connected. Have you made any mods to the swim platform to generate that wake?

[JIMBO]

ya threw it behind my shed !

i have the drivers side support only on so its like a single step for in and out of the boat but i am planning on raising it when i get time, too busy surfing for now since i have a short season here in BC

[toyotafreak]

Wake and lake look fantastic! Seems to me you have plent o' skill!

What was the comment about Psyclone? Still working to much or moved on to something else?